Government has accepted an offer from Trinidad and Tobago to provide it with specialized weapons and a helicopter to assist in its crime fighting efforts.
The assistance comes in the wake of two brutal incidents in which a total of 23 persons were killed by armed gangs in less than a month and following discussions held between Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee and Trinidad’s National Security Minister Martin Joseph.
Trinidad had made public its desire to assist Guyana, even in the face of its own challenges with crime. The two ministers recently discussed the level of assistance which would be provided.
Contacted for a comment on the type of specialized weapons and the type of helicopter, Rohee last evening told Stabroek News that he was not prepared to disclose such information.
The minister also declined to comment on how soon Guyana would receive the weaponry boost and copter, saying that his decision to withhold this information was in the interest of national security.
The statement which this newspaper received last evening was read by Rohee on state-owned NCN. It said that government has been making every effort to procure the said weapons from other sources but without success, but did not specify those sources.
However, it added that in the interim the specialized weapons and the helicopter have been accepted to assist government’s crime fighting efforts.
The statement said government expressed its deepest gratitude to the T&T government for its timely assistance.
Meanwhile as the joint services continue their hunt for the group of gunmen who waged terror in Bartica on Sunday night and who may have also been responsible for the January 26 Lusignan massacre, a number of persons remained in police custody in Bartica.
The Government Information Agency (GINA) on Tuesday reported that President Bharrat Jagdeo had said that the killers of the Lusignan 11 were also behind Sunday’s slaughter of the 12 in Bartica.
“… We know it is the same group that did it in Lusignan,” the agency quoted him as saying.
However this newspaper was told by a high ranking police officer that the ballistics tests have not yet been completed and so he would not comment publicly based on preliminary results.
‘E’ and ‘F’ Division Commander Gavin Primo told Stabroek News last evening that while there has been no significant arrest, Bartica police have picked up a number of notable and ‘interesting persons’ and are trying to ascertain their exact movements during the period that the gunmen attacked the community.
Police are said to be working on the theory that the gunmen may have received help from within the community.
Stabroek News was also told that the police have questioned a number of persons in the community and have received a lot of information and so they are working on a number of leads.
The source said much background information has also been provided and some of the men may be known to residents. However the police will have to take the information through certain procedures to identify who the individuals are, the source explained.
Region Seven Chairman Holbert Knights yesterday reported that Bartica seemed a little better and more persons had come out to conduct their business.
“We are slowly getting back to a semblance of normalcy,” he said.
Knights had told this newspaper that residents of Goshen, a village across the river from Bartica, had been panicking after rumours circulated that strange men were spotted in the community.
He said many of the residents had rushed over to Bartica and had said they were afraid of any incident occurring at Goshen.
However yesterday, he said, the situation was different and after they were able to ascertain that the reports were false, most of the residents returned home.
Knights said he visited the community yesterday and things were back to normal.
Yesterday the religious community of Bartica also came together and held a grand prayer session at the Transport and Harbours stelling where five men were shot execution style.
He said the session was well attended and relatives of those persons who were killed were given lighted candles and a small plant which they were advised to transplant in their yards in remembrance of the victims of Sunday’s slaying.
“People were extremely calm and everyone showed their full participation,” he said.
Meanwhile Linden, where the joint services had swarmed on Tuesday night, was back to normal yesterday.
Residents were told to stay indoors as the lawmen combed the area. Several residents reported that the communities were normal and persons were going about their regular business. (Heppilena Ferguson)
